Paris Global Educator Program completed, February 2016

“A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops.” – Henry Adams

J Rêve International is pleased to announce the completion of the second Global Educator Fellowship Program in Paris, France, in partnership with Wells International Foundation and Reid Hall of Columbia University, host of the Beauford Delaney Exhibition. US educator participants traveled to Paris across the globe, ranging from Rochester, NY, to even as far as South Korea.

J Rêve Global Educator Program is a professional development program that cultivates educators towards the relevance of and approaches to implementing arts education in schools, empowers through global networks of teachers, artists, and cultural producers, and increases awareness of STEAM and Multiple Intelligence education. We look forward to our upcoming program in Ghana.

We salute and thank the Educator cohort that participated in our Paris program, our partners, those who engaged us during private visits and participated in our panel, our J Rêve Artist in Residence, filmmaker Solo for documenting the program, Tom Reeves, and all of those who supported making this program a success!

Paris Program Recap

Day 1

Educators traveled from the US and South Korea, arriving in Paris to begin the journey with the ‘Beauford Delaney’s Montparnasse’ tour by Dr. Monique Wells, founder of Les Amis de Beauford Delaney, who co-curated the Delaney exhibition at Columbia University Paris’ Reid Hall. The evening ended with a visit to the local crêperie to introduce the group to local cuisine; Louis enjoyed his first crêpe!

“The cemetery of Montparnasse was the highlight of the walking for me. I was intrigued to learn that Beauford Delaney hung out with and painted a portrait of Henry Miller.” — Robert Ragir

Louis King of Rochester, NY enjoys his first crêpe

Day 2

The day began with a visit to the National Museum of the History of Immigration. A symbol of the art deco style, since 2007, the Cité Nationale de l’Histoire de l’Immigration, takes a fresh look at the history of France by showing the part that was played by immigrants in economical development, social evolution, and the cultural activities of the country. Overall, there has been a steady increase in immigration over the last century, and this has had a strong impact on the nature of French society.

Later that day, Arnaud Roujou de Boubée, the Executive Director of the Franco-American Fulbright Commission, a global commission founded in 1946 by President Truman, met with us to discuss the organization’s history of engaging educators and artists. The Fulbright commission seeks to support artists and increase global awareness through exchange. One of the highlights during our meeting was learning about how the Fulbright has a rich legacy of supporting the arts. Danielle Fortier Berger explained how she previously received a curatorial Fulbright fellowship in Paris and worked at the Cartier Foundation before becoming the active Executive Director at Paris’ Mona Bismarck American Center for Art & Culture. Our day concluded with a visit to the Eiffel Tower and Angelina’s.

Day 3

We began the day with a tour at UNESCO’s Paris headquarters. J Rêve Global Educator fellows learned that UNESCO has 195 member nations, and strives to build networks among nations that enable solidarity. Adorned with several works of art, the UNESCO headquarters features the « Works of Art and Special Projects Unit » program, which was created in 2004 to ensure the proper management and conservation, as well as the dissemination of knowledge, of the UNESCO works of art collection.

After our tour, U.S. Science Officer at UNESCO, Mr. Dillon Green, graciously exchanged ideas about global STEAM education with our Educators. Our goal with this program is to increase awareness and equip educators to advocate for and implement arts education initiatives in their districts, and in their classrooms globally. UNESCO and J Rêve share this goal.

“UNESCO is an organization whose mission is to globalize education, advocate for science and preserve culture. All of these pillars can be done within classrooms using creative ideas.” —Louis King, participant

Paris cohort at UNESCO headquarters

We concluded Day 3 with a visit to the Beauford Delaney Exhibition and a presentation by Dr. Monique Wells on her vision for the Wells International Foundation. Then, a teacher meet-and-greet kicked off by a virtual presentation from London-based Chantal Pinkham of Blippar, an interactional response app that is available to teachers worldwide enabling a collaborative, digital learning experience.

Day 4

Our day began with a visit to the Louvre Museum. J Rêve International Global Educator Fellows practiced learning to think by looking at art, as described in “The Intelligent Eye” by Daniel Perkins (Getty Center). We did activities like exploring ways of looking at art by practicing mindfulness and a “prolonged gaze” and noticing representations of “the other” in works presented in the Louvre collection. Of course, we also visited the Mona Lisa.

Day 5

A visit to the Parisian suburb of Aubervilliers, home of Villa Mais d’Ici and the Museum of Precious Cargo was hosted by artist/educator Cheryl Ann Bolden. The group enjoyed visiting artist studios and engaging in stimulating conversations on global identity.

“This was by far my favorite experience. It was so dreamlike to be in Paris, having great, honest & intellectual conversations by day which turned into casual bonding by evening. Truly a dream. The contents of the Precious Cargo Museum are so overwhelmingly impressive. It highlighted the African American presence in Paris and spoke to the richness and significance of said presence in ways I was previously unaware of. Cheryl is amazing!” –Felicia Anderson Cincinnati/South Korea

Cheryl Ann Bolden, Artist and Founder of the Museum of Precious Cargo

Day 6

On the last day of the J Rêve Global Educator Program, educators were invited to engage in a panel discussion on Multiple Intelligences and STEAM education at Columbia University’s Reid Hall moderated by J Rêve Founder Jacqueline Cofield and featuring Ealy Mays, a Paris-based contemporary artist, Paris based neurosurgeon Roman Hossein Khonsari and J Rêve Educator Fellows Malikka D. Karteron and Margaret Sergent.

A closing dinner at a unique African restaurant, L’equateur in the trendy, 10th arrondisment (area) of Paris where the group ate their first Maffè, Yassa Chicken and Fish, and Thieboudienne, national dishes of many West African countries. It was the perfect end to an educational voyage abroad!

Artist in Residency Program : Solo

Solo, an emerging filmmaker from Burkina Faso, based in Pittsburgh, PA, completed his J Rêve International Global Artist Residency program in Paris. A graduate of Point Park University’s film school in Pittsburgh, he traveled to Paris to document the Global Educator Program and Beauford Delaney exhibition, and is creating a short film based on the project, that will be used to encourage more dialogue on global arts and STEAM education.